第61篇		Paper 61
玉苒厦(Urantia)上的哺乳动物时代		The Mammalian Era on Urantia
61:0.1 (693.1) 该哺乳动物时代, 从有胎盘类哺乳动物的发源时期，一直延续到冰河时期的结束，涵盖了将近五千万年。		61:0.1 (693.1) THE era of mammals extends from the times of the origin of placental mammals to the end of the ice age, covering a little less than fifty million years.
61:0.2 (693.2) 在这一新生代期间，世界的景观呈现出一种引人入胜的外观 -- 起伏的山峦、辽阔的峡谷、宽广的河流、巨大的森林。在这段时间中，巴拿马地峡沉浮了两次；白令海峡陆桥也沉浮了三次。动物类型多种多样。尽管进化中的动物物种争夺霸权的斗争此起彼伏，但树上却布满了鸟类，整个世界是动物的乐园。		61:0.2 (693.2) During this Cenozoic age the world’s landscape presented an attractive appearance—rolling hills, broad valleys, wide rivers, and great forests. Twice during this sector of time the Panama isthmus went up and down; three times the Bering Strait land bridge did the same. The animal types were both many and varied. The trees swarmed with birds, and the whole world was an animal paradise, notwithstanding the incessant struggle of the evolving animal species for supremacy.
61:0.3 (693.3) 该五千万年的时代中五个时期所累积的沉积物，包含了相继的哺乳动物朝代的化石记录，并一直导向人类本身实际出现的时期。		61:0.3 (693.3) The accumulated deposits of the five periods of this fifty-million-year era contain the fossil records of the successive mammalian dynasties and lead right up through the times of the actual appearance of man himself.
1. 新的大陆陆地阶段 早期哺乳动物时代 ^top		1. The New Continental Land Stage The Age of Early Mammals ^top
61:1.1 (693.4) 50,000,000（五千万）年以前，世界的各个陆地区域很普遍都在水面之上，或是仅被水略微淹没了。这一时期的岩层和沉积物既有陆生的，也有海生的，但主要是陆生的。在相当长的一段时间里，陆地渐渐上升，但同时又被向下冲刷至各个较低水平高度而趋向于海洋。		61:1.1 (693.4) 50,000,000 years ago the land areas of the world were very generally above water or only slightly submerged. The formations and deposits of this period are both land and marine, but chiefly land. For a considerable time the land gradually rose but was simultaneously washed down to the lower levels and toward the seas.
61:1.2 (693.5) 这一时期之初，有胎盘类哺乳动物在北美洲突然出现了，它们构成了迄至当时最为重要的进化发展。之前各种无胎盘类哺乳动物已然存在了，但这一新类别却是直接而突然地出自先前存在的爬行动物祖先，该祖先的后代历经各个恐龙衰退时期而坚持了下来。有胎盘类哺乳动物的父辈是一种小型的、高度活跃的食肉类跳跃型恐龙。		61:1.2 (693.5) Early in this period and in North America the placental type of mammals suddenly appeared, and they constituted the most important evolutionary development up to this time. Previous orders of nonplacental mammals had existed, but this new type sprang directly and suddenly from the pre-existent reptilian ancestor whose descendants had persisted on down through the times of dinosaur decline. The father of the placental mammals was a small, highly active, carnivorous, springing type of dinosaur.
61:1.3 (693.6) 各种基本的哺乳动物类本能，开始在这些原始哺乳动物类型身上得以显现出来。与所有其它形式的动物生命相比，哺乳动物拥有一种极大的生存优势，因为它们能够：		61:1.3 (693.6) Basic mammalian instincts began to be manifested in these primitive mammalian types. Mammals possess an immense survival advantage over all other forms of animal life in that they can:
61:1.4 (693.7) 1. 产生相对成熟、充分发育的后代。		61:1.4 (693.7) 1. Bring forth relatively mature and well-developed offspring.
61:1.5 (693.8) 2. 怀着关爱，滋养、培育和保护其后代。		61:1.5 (693.8) 2. Nourish, nurture, and protect their offspring with affectionate regard.
61:1.6 (693.9) 3. 运用其优越的脑力来自我延续。		61:1.6 (693.9) 3. Employ their superior brain power in self-perpetuation.
61:1.7 (693.10) 4. 利用增强的灵活性来逃避敌人。		61:1.7 (693.10) 4. Utilize increased agility in escaping from enemies.
61:1.8 (693.11) 5. 应用自身优越的智力来调整和适应环境。		61:1.8 (693.11) 5. Apply superior intelligence to environmental adjustment and adaptation.
61:1.9 (694.1) 45,000,000（四千五百万）年前，各大陆的主脊被抬升了起来，与此伴随的是海岸线的普遍下沉。哺乳动物生命在疾速进化着。一种小型的爬行类卵生哺乳动物繁盛起来，而后来袋鼠的祖先们则在澳大利亚随意漫步着。不久出现了小型马类、健跑的犀牛、带鼻的貘类，原始的猪类、松鼠、狐猴、负鼠，以及几种像猴子一样的动物族类。它们都是小型的、原始的，并且最适宜生活在山区的丛林中间。一种像鸵鸟一样的巨大陆生鸟类长到了十英尺（三米多）的高度，生出了长短径各为三十三厘米和二十三厘米的蛋。这些鸟类便是后来巨型载人鸟类的祖先，它们是如此智能，以致曾一度运送人类穿越天空。		61:1.9 (694.1) 45,000,000 years ago the continental backbones were elevated in association with a very general sinking of the coast lines. Mammalian life was evolving rapidly. A small reptilian, egg-laying type of mammal flourished, and the ancestors of the later kangaroos roamed Australia. Soon there were small horses, fleet-footed rhinoceroses, tapirs with proboscises, primitive pigs, squirrels, lemurs, opossums, and several tribes of monkeylike animals. They were all small, primitive, and best suited to living among the forests of the mountain regions. A large ostrichlike land bird developed to a height of ten feet and laid an egg nine by thirteen inches. These were the ancestors of the later gigantic passenger birds that were so highly intelligent, and that onetime transported human beings through the air.
61:1.10 (694.2) 新生代早期的各类哺乳动物生活在地上、水下、空中及树端。它们拥有一到十一对乳腺，且都被浓密的毛发所覆盖着。与后来出现的类别一样，它们会先后长出两套牙齿，并拥有相对于身躯体型比率很大的大脑。但在它们中间，还没有任何现代的形态存在过。		61:1.10 (694.2) The mammals of the early Cenozoic lived on land, under the water, in the air, and among the treetops. They had from one to eleven pairs of mammary glands, and all were covered with considerable hair. In common with the later appearing orders, they developed two successive sets of teeth and possessed large brains in comparison to body size. But among them all no modern forms existed.
61:1.11 (694.3) 40,000,000（四千万）年前，北半球陆地区域开始抬升，随之而来的，便是新的大规模的陆地沉积，以及其它陆地活动，包括熔岩流、板块翘曲、湖泊的形成及侵蚀。		61:1.11 (694.3) 40,000,000 years ago the land areas of the Northern Hemisphere began to elevate, and this was followed by new extensive land deposits and other terrestrial activities, including lava flows, warping, lake formation, and erosion.
61:1.12 (694.4) 在这一时代的后期，欧洲大部被淹没了。随着陆地的轻微上升，该大陆又被湖泊和海湾所覆盖。北冰洋经由乌拉尔低地南下，与地中海相连接，随后又向北扩张，而阿尔卑斯高地、喀尔巴阡山脉、亚平宁山脉和比利牛斯山脉则作为海中诸岛而突出于水面之上。巴拿马地峡升起来了；大西洋与太平洋分离开了。北美洲和亚洲经由白令海峡陆桥相连，而与欧洲通过格陵兰岛和冰岛相连。北纬的大陆圈仅被乌拉尔海峡所断开，该海峡把北极诸海与扩大了的地中海连接了起来。		61:1.12 (694.4) During the latter part of this epoch most of Europe was submerged. Following a slight land rise the continent was covered by lakes and bays. The Arctic Ocean, through the Ural depression, ran south to connect with the Mediterranean Sea as it was then expanded northward, the highlands of the Alps, Carpathians, Apennines, and Pyrenees being up above the water as islands of the sea. The Isthmus of Panama was up; the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans were separated. North America was connected with Asia by the Bering Strait land bridge and with Europe by way of Greenland and Iceland. The earth circuit of land in northern latitudes was broken only by the Ural Straits, which connected the arctic seas with the enlarged Mediterranean.
61:1.13 (694.5) 相当大片的有孔虫泌出类石灰岩被沉积在欧洲水域中。今日，这片岩石在阿尔卑斯山中被抬升到三千多米高，在喜马拉雅山中被抬升至四千八百多米高，在西藏被抬升至六千多米高。这一时期的白垩沉积物，可在非洲和澳洲的沿岸、南美洲的西岸以及西印度群岛周围得以发现。		61:1.13 (694.5) Considerable foraminiferal limestone was deposited in European waters. Today this same stone is elevated to a height of 10,000 feet in the Alps, 16,000 feet in the Himalayas, and 20,000 feet in Tibet. The chalk deposits of this period are found along the coasts of Africa and Australia, on the west coast of South America, and about the West Indies.
61:1.14 (694.6) 在这个被称为始新世的整个时期中，哺乳动物以及其它相关生命形式的演化，几乎没有遭到任何干扰。那时，北美洲通过陆地与除澳澳洲之外的所有大陆相连，这个世界渐渐被各种原始的哺乳动物群落所蔓延。		61:1.14 (694.6) Throughout this so-called Eocene period the evolution of mammalian and other related forms of life continued with little or no interruption. North America was then connected by land with every continent except Australia, and the world was gradually overrun by primitive mammalian fauna of various types.
2. 新近的洪水阶段 高级哺乳动物时代 ^top		2. The Recent Flood Stage The Age of Advanced Mammals ^top
61:2.1 (694.7) 这一时期是以有胎盘类哺乳动物的进一步快速进化为特征的，它们是这些时间中发展的哺乳生命里更为先进的形态。		61:2.1 (694.7) This period was characterized by the further and rapid evolution of placental mammals, the more progressive forms of mammalian life developing during these times.
61:2.2 (694.8) 尽管早期的有胎盘类哺乳动物出自于肉食类祖先，但很快食草类分支便发展出来了，不久杂食类哺乳动物家族也出现了。各种被子植物是迅速增多的哺乳动物的主要食物，现代的陆生植物群，包括当今绝大部分植物和树木，都已在早前各个时期出现了。		61:2.2 (694.8) Although the early placental mammals sprang from carnivorous ancestors, very soon herbivorous branches developed, and, erelong, omnivorous mammalian families also sprang up. The angiosperms were the principal food of the rapidly increasing mammals, the modern land flora, including the majority of present-day plants and trees, having appeared during earlier periods.
61:2.3 (695.1) 35,000,000（三千五百万）年前，标志着有胎盘类哺乳动物全球主宰时代的开始。南部陆桥十分广泛，将那时广袤的南极大陆与南美、南非以及澳洲重新连接了起来。尽管陆地主体都分布在高纬度地区，但由于热带海洋的大面积增加，而陆地的抬升又不足以产生冰川，故世界的气候依旧相对温和。格陵兰岛和冰岛发生了大面积的熔岩流，一些煤炭便在这些地层中沉积了下来。		61:2.3 (695.1) 35,000,000 years ago marks the beginning of the age of placental-mammalian world domination. The southern land bridge was extensive, reconnecting the then enormous Antarctic continent with South America, South Africa, and Australia. In spite of the massing of land in high latitudes, the world climate remained relatively mild because of the enormous increase in the size of the tropic seas, nor was the land elevated sufficiently to produce glaciers. Extensive lava flows occurred in Greenland and Iceland, some coal being deposited between these layers.
61:2.4 (695.2) 地球上的动物群发生了显著的变化。海洋生物历经了巨大的改变；大多数现今类别的海洋生命，在那时已经存在了，有孔虫类继续扮演着一个重要的角色。昆虫生命与先前时代很像。科罗拉多的弗洛里森特化石层，属于这些久远时间的稍后年代。大多数现存的昆虫家族，都能够追溯到这一时期，但也有许多那时存在的昆虫家族现在灭绝了，虽然它们的化石留下来了。		61:2.4 (695.2) Marked changes were taking place in the fauna of the planet. The sea life was undergoing great modification; most of the present-day orders of marine life were in existence, and foraminifers continued to play an important role. The insect life was much like that of the previous era. The Florissant fossil beds of Colorado belong to the later years of these far-distant times. Most of the living insect families go back to this period, but many then in existence are now extinct, though their fossils remain.
61:2.5 (695.3) 在陆地上，很显然是哺乳类动物重振和扩张的时代。在这一时期结束之前，早前更为原始的哺乳动物当中有一百多个种类灭绝了。即便是体形庞大而大脑偏小的哺乳动物也很快灭绝了。在动物幸存的过程当中，脑容量与敏捷性取代了甲壳和体型。随着恐龙家族的衰落，哺乳动物慢慢接管了地球的主宰权，并快速而完全地消灭了其爬行类祖先的余部。		61:2.5 (695.3) On land this was pre-eminently the age of mammalian renovation and expansion. Of the earlier and more primitive mammals, over one hundred species were extinct before this period ended. Even the mammals of large size and small brain soon perished. Brains and agility had replaced armor and size in the progress of animal survival. And with the dinosaur family on the decline, the mammals slowly assumed domination of the earth, speedily and completely destroying the remainder of their reptilian ancestors.
61:2.6 (695.4) 随同恐龙的消失，在蜥蜴家族的不同分支中也发生其他巨大的变化。早期爬行家族存活下来的成员是海龟、蛇类和鳄鱼，外加值得尊敬的蛙类，这一人类较早期祖先中硕果仅存的族类代表。		61:2.6 (695.4) Along with the disappearance of the dinosaurs, other and great changes occurred in the various branches of the saurian family. The surviving members of the early reptilian families are turtles, snakes, and crocodiles, together with the venerable frog, the only remaining group representative of man’s earlier ancestors.
61:2.7 (695.5) 哺乳动物的各个类别都发源于一种目前已经灭绝的独特动物。这种食肉类生物是猫科与海豹科杂交的产物；它能够水陆两栖，极为智能且非常活跃。在欧洲，犬类家族的祖先演化了出来，并很快产生了许多小型狗类物种。大约同一时间，啮齿类动物包括海狸、松鼠、囊地鼠、老鼠和兔子都出现了，并且很快成为一类不可忽视的生命形式，这个家族自那以来并没有发生很大的改变。这一时期的后期沉积物含有狗类、猫类、浣熊以及鼬鼠的化石遗留。		61:2.7 (695.5) Various groups of mammals had their origin in a unique animal now extinct. This carnivorous creature was something of a cross between a cat and a seal; it could live on land or in water and was highly intelligent and very active. In Europe the ancestor of the canine family evolved, soon giving rise to many species of small dogs. About the same time the gnawing rodents, including beavers, squirrels, gophers, mice, and rabbits, appeared and soon became a notable form of life, very little change having since occurred in this family. The later deposits of this period contain the fossil remains of dogs, cats, coons, and weasels in ancestral form.
61:2.8 (695.6) 30,000,000（三千万）年前，现代类型的哺乳动物开始出现了。以前，哺乳动物绝大部分时间生活在山里，属于山居类型；突然间，从有爪类肉食动物中分化出来的平原类或是有蹄类食草动物，开始演化出来了。这些食草类动物出自于一种拥有五个足趾和四十四颗牙齿的未分化祖先，该物种在本时代结束之前灭绝了。在这整个时期中，足趾的进化并没有进展到三趾阶段以外。		61:2.8 (695.6) 30,000,000 years ago the modern types of mammals began to make their appearance. Formerly the mammals had lived for the greater part in the hills, being of the mountainous types; suddenly there began the evolution of the plains or hoofed type, the grazing species, as differentiated from the clawed flesh eaters. These grazers sprang from an undifferentiated ancestor having five toes and forty-four teeth, which perished before the end of the age. Toe evolution did not progress beyond the three-toed stage throughout this period.
61:2.9 (695.7) 马类，亦即进化的一个杰出范例，这些时期生活在北美和欧洲，虽然直到后来的冰河时代，它的发展才得以全部完成。尽管犀牛家族在这一时期末出现了，但它在之后才经历了其最大限度的扩张。一种像猪一样的小型生物也发展起来了，它成为了猪类、野猪和河马等许多物种的祖先。骆驼和美洲驼大约在这个时期的中期发源于北美洲，并蔓及西部诸平原。后来，美洲驼迁徙到南美，骆驼则迁徙到欧洲，但二者在北美都很快灭绝了，尽管还有少数骆驼存活到冰河时代。		61:2.9 (695.7) The horse, an outstanding example of evolution, lived during these times in both North America and Europe, though his development was not fully completed until the later ice age. While the rhinoceros family appeared at the close of this period, it underwent its greatest expansion subsequently. A small hoglike creature also developed which became the ancestor of the many species of swine, peccaries, and hippopotamuses. Camels and llamas had their origin in North America about the middle of this period and overran the western plains. Later, the llamas migrated to South America, the camels to Europe, and soon both were extinct in North America, though a few camels survived up to the ice age.
61:2.10 (696.1) 大约在这个时间，北美洲西部发生了一件值得注意的事情：古代狐猴的早期祖先首次出现了。尽管这个家族还不能被看成是真正的狐猴，但它们的出现标志着真正狐猴后来所出自家系的确立。		61:2.10 (696.1) About this time a notable thing occurred in western North America: The early ancestors of the ancient lemurs first made their appearance. While this family cannot be regarded as true lemurs, their coming marked the establishment of the line from which the true lemurs subsequently sprang.
61:2.11 (696.2) 正如之前时代陆地蛇类动物转往海洋一样，此时整个部族的有胎盘类哺乳动物都离开陆地而卜居海洋。从那时起，它们一直留在海洋里，产生出现代的鲸类、海豚、海豹以及海狮。		61:2.11 (696.2) Like the land serpents of a previous age which betook themselves to the seas, now a whole tribe of placental mammals deserted the land and took up their residence in the oceans. And they have ever since remained in the sea, yielding the modern whales, dolphins, porpoises, seals, and sea lions.
61:2.12 (696.3) 地球上的鸟类生命继续发展，但却少有重要的进化转变。大多数现代鸟类已然存在，包括鸥类、苍鹭、红鹤、秃鹰、隼类、老鹰、猫头鹰、鹌鹑和鸵鸟。		61:2.12 (696.3) The bird life of the planet continued to develop, but with few important evolutionary changes. The majority of modern birds were existent, including gulls, herons, flamingoes, buzzards, falcons, eagles, owls, quails, and ostriches.
61:2.13 (696.4) 到这一涵盖了一千万年的渐新世时期结束时，植物生命、海洋生命以及陆地动物一起都在极大程度上演化了，就像今日存在的情形一样。相当多的门类在随后出现了，但大多数现今存活物种的古代形态，在那时候已经存活了。		61:2.13 (696.4) By the close of this Oligocene period, covering ten million years, the plant life, together with the marine life and the land animals, had very largely evolved and was present on earth much as today. Considerable specialization has subsequently appeared, but the ancestral forms of most living things were then alive.
3. 现代造山阶段 象类与马类的时代 ^top		3. The Modern Mountain Stage Age of the Elephant and the Horse ^top
61:3.1 (696.5) 陆地的抬升和海洋的分离，缓慢改变着世界的气候，世界渐渐冷下来，但气候还算温和。在格陵兰岛出现了红杉和木兰，然而亚热带植物却开始往南迁移。到这个时期末，这些亚热带植物和树木，在很大程度上已从北纬地区消失，取而代之的是更为耐寒的植物和落叶类树种。		61:3.1 (696.5) Land elevation and sea segregation were slowly changing the world’s weather, gradually cooling it, but the climate was still mild. Sequoias and magnolias grew in Greenland, but the subtropical plants were beginning to migrate southward. By the end of this period these warm-climate plants and trees had largely disappeared from the northern latitudes, their places being taken by more hardy plants and the deciduous trees.
61:3.2 (696.6) 草类品种有了大量增加，许多哺乳类物种的牙齿渐渐变得与现今食草类动物的牙齿相同。		61:3.2 (696.6) There was a great increase in the varieties of grasses, and the teeth of many mammalian species gradually altered to conform to the present-day grazing type.
61:3.3 (696.7) 25,000,000（两千五百万）年前，经过长时间的陆地抬升之后，出现了些微的陆地沉降。落基山地区依旧保持着高速抬升，使得侵蚀物的沉积依然在整个东部低地继续着。众多山脊又被抬升了起来。事实上，它们从那时起一直在升高着。加利福尼亚地区巨大的六千五百米垂直断层，便始自于这一时期。		61:3.3 (696.7) 25,000,000 years ago there was a slight land submergence following the long epoch of land elevation. The Rocky Mountain region remained highly elevated so that the deposition of erosion material continued throughout the lowlands to the east. The Sierras were well re-elevated; in fact, they have been rising ever since. The great four-mile vertical fault in the California region dates from this time.
61:3.4 (696.8) 20,000,000（两千万）年前可谓是哺乳动物的黄金时代。白令海峡陆桥升起来了，许多动物种群从亚洲迁至北美洲，包括有四根长牙的乳齿象、短腿犀牛以及许多猫族种类。		61:3.4 (696.8) 20,000,000 years ago was indeed the golden age of mammals. The Bering Strait land bridge was up, and many groups of animals migrated to North America from Asia, including the four-tusked mastodons, short-legged rhinoceroses, and many varieties of the cat family.
61:3.5 (696.9) 第一种鹿类出现了，北美不久便布满了反刍类动物 -- 鹿类、牛类、骆驼、野牛，以及犀牛科的几个物种 -- 但那些高近两米的巨型野猪都灭绝了。		61:3.5 (696.9) The first deer appeared, and North America was soon overrun by ruminants—deer, oxen, camels, bison, and several species of rhinoceroses—but the giant pigs, more than six feet tall, became extinct.
61:3.6 (697.1) 这个时期和随后各个时期的巨大象类，不但拥有庞大的身型，而且还拥有庞大的大脑，它们很快便遍布了除澳洲以外的整个世界。这一次，这个世界由一种大脑大到足以使其续存的大型动物所主宰了。面对这些时代极为智能的生命，若非拥有一个巨大尺寸及优越品质的大脑，则没有一种身量庞大如象的动物能够存活下来。在智力和适应性方面，只有马类还能与象类相近，而能超越象类的，则只有人类自身了。即便如此，在这一时期开始时存在的五十种象类中，只有两种幸存了下来。		61:3.6 (697.1) The huge elephants of this and subsequent periods possessed large brains as well as large bodies, and they soon overran the entire world except Australia. For once the world was dominated by a huge animal with a brain sufficiently large to enable it to carry on. Confronted by the highly intelligent life of these ages, no animal the size of an elephant could have survived unless it had possessed a brain of large size and superior quality. In intelligence and adaptation the elephant is approached only by the horse and is surpassed only by man himself. Even so, of the fifty species of elephants in existence at the opening of this period, only two have survived.
61:3.7 (697.2) 15,000,000（一千五百万）年前，欧亚大陆的山区逐渐升高，一些火山活动遍及这些地区，没有什么可与西半球的熔岩流相比了。这些动荡不安的状况，在世界各地盛行。		61:3.7 (697.2) 15,000,000 years ago the mountain regions of Eurasia were rising, and there was some volcanic activity throughout these regions, but nothing comparable to the lava flows of the Western Hemisphere. These unsettled conditions prevailed all over the world.
61:3.8 (697.3) 直布罗陀海峡闭合了，西班牙与非洲通过这个古老的大陆桥连接了起来，而地中海则通过一个穿越法国的狭窄海峡流入到大西洋，众多山峰和高地作为这一古老海洋之上的岛屿而出现了。后来，这些欧洲的海域开始回缩。再后来，地中海与印度洋连接了起来，而这一时期结束时，苏伊士地区被抬升了起来，以致地中海一度成为一个内陆盐海。		61:3.8 (697.3) The Strait of Gibraltar closed, and Spain was connected with Africa by the old land bridge, but the Mediterranean flowed into the Atlantic through a narrow channel which extended across France, the mountain peaks and highlands appearing as islands above this ancient sea. Later on, these European seas began to withdraw. Still later, the Mediterranean was connected with the Indian Ocean, while at the close of this period the Suez region was elevated so that the Mediterranean became, for a time, an inland salt sea.
61:3.9 (697.4) 冰岛大陆桥沉没了，北极水域与大西洋水域混为一体。北美洲的大西洋海岸迅速降温，但太平洋海岸依旧比现在要温暖一些。巨大的洋流如同今日这般运行着，并影响着世界气候。		61:3.9 (697.4) The Iceland land bridge submerged, and the arctic waters commingled with those of the Atlantic Ocean. The Atlantic coast of North America rapidly cooled, but the Pacific coast remained warmer than at present. The great ocean currents were in function and affected climate much as they do today.
61:3.10 (697.5) 哺乳动物生命继续进化着。在北美西部平原上，大群的马类加入到骆驼行列中；这个时期不但是象类的时代，也的确是马类的时代。马脑在动物机能方面仅次于象脑，但有一个方面马脑明显低级，因为马类从未完全克服受惊时根深蒂固的逃逸习性。马类缺少象类那种情绪控制能力，而象类也因其身型及缺少灵活性而受到极大妨碍。在这个时期，还演化出一种与象类和马类都有些相似的动物，但不久就被迅速增加的猫科动物消灭掉了。		61:3.10 (697.5) Mammalian life continued to evolve. Enormous herds of horses joined the camels on the western plains of North America; this was truly the age of horses as well as of elephants. The horse’s brain is next in animal quality to that of the elephant, but in one respect it is decidedly inferior, for the horse never fully overcame the deep-seated propensity to flee when frightened. The horse lacks the emotional control of the elephant, while the elephant is greatly handicapped by size and lack of agility. During this period an animal evolved which was somewhat like both the elephant and the horse, but it was soon destroyed by the rapidly increasing cat family.
61:3.11 (697.6) 随着玉苒厦(Urantia)逐渐进入所谓的“无马时代”，你们应该静下来想一想这种动物对你们的祖先曾意味着什么。人类最初以马为食，然后又策之于行，再后又用之于农业和战争。长久以来，马类一直为人类服务，并在人类文明发展中扮演了一个重要角色。		61:3.11 (697.6) As Urantia is entering the so-called “horseless age,” you should pause and ponder what this animal meant to your ancestors. Men first used horses for food, then for travel, and later in agriculture and war. The horse has long served mankind and has played an important part in the development of human civilization.
61:3.12 (697.7) 这一时期的生物发展，为后来人类出现之舞台的构建贡献良多。在中亚，真正类型的原始猿猴和猩猩都演化出来了，且都有一个现今已灭绝了的共同祖先。不过，这些物种都与后来成为人类祖先的生物家系没有任何联系。		61:3.12 (697.7) The biologic developments of this period contributed much toward the setting of the stage for the subsequent appearance of man. In central Asia the true types of both the primitive monkey and the gorilla evolved, having a common ancestor, now extinct. But neither of these species is concerned in the line of living beings which were, later on, to become the ancestors of the human race.
61:3.13 (697.8) 狗科动物以几个种类为代表，尤其是狼类与狐类；猫科家族以豹类和拥有剑齿的大型虎类为代表，后者最初在北美洲演化着。现代的猫科动物和狗科动物在世界各地数目都有所增长。鼬鼠、貂类、水獭以及浣熊在整个北纬地区都兴盛和发展起来了。		61:3.13 (697.8) The dog family was represented by several groups, notably wolves and foxes; the cat tribe, by panthers and large saber-toothed tigers, the latter first evolving in North America. The modern cat and dog families increased in numbers all over the world. Weasels, martens, otters, and raccoons thrived and developed throughout the northern latitudes.
61:3.14 (698.1) 鸟类还在继续进化着，尽管没有什么显著的变化发生。爬行动物 --蛇类、鳄鱼和海龟，已与现代类型相似。		61:3.14 (698.1) Birds continued to evolve, though few marked changes occurred. Reptiles were similar to modern types—snakes, crocodiles, and turtles.
61:3.15 (698.2) 世界史上一个多变而有趣的时期就这样告终了。这个象类与马类的时代，被称为中新世。		61:3.15 (698.2) Thus drew to a close a very eventful and interesting period of the world’s history. This age of the elephant and the horse is known as the Miocene.
4. 新近的陆地抬升阶段 最后一次哺乳动物大迁徙 ^top		4. The Recent Continental-Elevation Stage The Last Great Mammalian Migration ^top
61:4.1 (698.3) 这是前冰河时期北美、欧洲与亚洲的大陆抬升时期。陆地在地貌上得以极大地改变。山脉生成，河流改道，互不相关的火山在世界各地爆发了。		61:4.1 (698.3) This is the period of preglacial land elevation in North America, Europe, and Asia. The land was greatly altered in topography. Mountain ranges were born, streams changed their courses, and isolated volcanoes broke out all over the world.
61:4.2 (698.4) 10,000,000（一千万）年前，一个在大陆低地上发生广泛的局部陆地沉积的时代开始了，而这些沉积的大部分后来又被移除掉了。当时，欧洲的大部分依旧在水面以下，包括英格兰、比利时以及法国的诸多部分，而地中海则覆盖了北非的大部分土地。在北美洲，大面积的沉积发生在山脚、湖泊中，以及广大的大陆盆地之内。这些沉积物平均高度只有约六十米，或多或少带一些颜色，并且化石很少。北美洲西部形成两个巨大的淡水湖，众多山脊在升高；沙士达山、胡德山以及雷尼尔山于这个时期形成。但直到后来的冰河时代，北美才开始慢慢朝向大西洋凹陷。		61:4.2 (698.4) 10,000,000 years ago began an age of widespread local land deposits on the lowlands of the continents, but most of these sedimentations were later removed. Much of Europe, at this time, was still under water, including parts of England, Belgium, and France, and the Mediterranean Sea covered much of northern Africa. In North America extensive depositions were made at the mountain bases, in lakes, and in the great land basins. These deposits average only about two hundred feet, are more or less colored, and fossils are rare. Two great fresh-water lakes existed in western North America. The Sierras were elevating; Shasta, Hood, and Rainier were beginning their mountain careers. But it was not until the subsequent ice age that North America began its creep toward the Atlantic depression.
61:4.3 (698.5) 有一段相对短暂的时期，世界的全部陆地（除澳洲外）又一次连接到了一起，最后一次世界范围内的动物大迁徙发生了。北美洲与南美洲以及亚洲连接了起来，而有了一种动物生命的自由往来。亚洲树懒、犰狳、羚羊和熊类进入了北美洲，而北美洲的骆驼则进入了中国。犀牛向除澳洲和南美洲以外的整个世界迁徙，但到这一时期结束时，它们在西半球绝迹了。		61:4.3 (698.5) For a short time all the land of the world was again joined excepting Australia, and the last great world-wide animal migration took place. North America was connected with both South America and Asia, and there was a free exchange of animal life. Asiatic sloths, armadillos, antelopes, and bears entered North America, while North American camels went to China. Rhinoceroses migrated over the whole world except Australia and South America, but they were extinct in the Western Hemisphere by the close of this period.
61:4.4 (698.6) 总体说来，先前时期的生命继续在进化和扩张。猫科动物主宰了动物生命，海洋生命则几乎停滞不前。很多的马类依旧是三趾的，但各种现代类型却是呼之欲出。美洲驼和长颈鹿般的骆驼在草原上与马类混合到了一起。长颈鹿出现在非洲，那时便拥有了一个像如今这般长的脖颈。在南美树懒、犰狳、食蚁兽和原始猿猴的南美类型演化出来了。在各大洲最终分离以前，那些大型动物乳齿象，迁移到了除澳洲以外的每个地方。		61:4.4 (698.6) In general, the life of the preceding period continued to evolve and spread. The cat family dominated the animal life, and marine life was almost at a standstill. Many of the horses were still three-toed, but the modern types were arriving; llamas and giraffelike camels mingled with the horses on the grazing plains. The giraffe appeared in Africa, having just as long a neck then as now. In South America sloths, armadillos, anteaters, and the South American type of primitive monkeys evolved. Before the continents were finally isolated, those massive animals, the mastodons, migrated everywhere except to Australia.
61:4.5 (698.7) 5,000,000（五百万）年前，马类进化成如今的模样，并从北美洲迁徙到世界各地。但在红种人到达很久之前，马类便已在这块它发源的大陆上灭绝了。		61:4.5 (698.7) 5,000,000 years ago the horse evolved as it now is and from North America migrated to all the world. But the horse had become extinct on the continent of its origin long before the red man arrived.
61:4.6 (698.8) 气候渐渐转冷；陆地植物慢慢向南迁移。起初是北方的日渐寒冷，阻止了动物迁过北部各个地峡；后来这些北美陆桥沉没了。在非洲与南美洲之间的陆地连接最终沉没后不久，西半球便被隔离成今日的模样。从这时起，不同类型的生命便开始在东西两半球发展开来了。		61:4.6 (698.8) The climate was gradually getting cooler; the land plants were slowly moving southward. At first it was the increasing cold in the north that stopped animal migrations over the northern isthmuses; subsequently these North American land bridges went down. Soon afterwards the land connection between Africa and South America finally submerged, and the Western Hemisphere was isolated much as it is today. From this time forward distinct types of life began to develop in the Eastern and Western Hemispheres.
61:4.7 (699.1) 跨度达近一千万年的这一时期就这样结束了，而人类的祖先却还未曾出现。这一时期通常被称为上新世。		61:4.7 (699.1) And thus does this period of almost ten million years’ duration draw to a close, and not yet has the ancestor of man appeared. This is the time usually designated as the Pliocene.
5. 早期冰河时代 ^top		5. The Early Ice Age ^top
61:5.1 (699.2) 到先前时期结束时，北美洲东北部和欧洲北部陆地得以大幅度地抬升，在北美洲，许多地区升高了九千米，或者更多。在前期，这些北部地区的气候依旧温和，北极各水域都敞开着蒸发水分，直到冰川时期近于结束时，它们还是无冰的。		61:5.1 (699.2) By the close of the preceding period the lands of the northeastern part of North America and of northern Europe were highly elevated on an extensive scale, in North America vast areas rising up to 30,000 feet and more. Mild climates had formerly prevailed over these northern regions, and the arctic waters were all open to evaporation, and they continued to be ice-free until almost the close of the glacial period.
61:5.2 (699.3) 在这些陆地抬升的同时，洋流也转移了，而季风也改变了方向。这些条件最终导致充分饱和的大气移动所携带的水分，在北部高地形成几乎连续不断的降水。大雪开始降落在这些因抬升而变冷的地区，持续不绝，最终达到六千米厚。雪层最厚的地区，连同其海拔，决定了后来发生冰川压力流的各个中心。冰河时代所持续的长度，正如同这一伴随着此类巨大雪层的降水不断覆盖这些北部高地的时间一样长，这种雪层很快便变成了固态但又能移动的冰。		61:5.2 (699.3) Simultaneously with these land elevations the ocean currents shifted, and the seasonal winds changed their direction. These conditions eventually produced an almost constant precipitation of moisture from the movement of the heavily saturated atmosphere over the northern highlands. Snow began to fall on these elevated and therefore cool regions, and it continued to fall until it had attained a depth of 20,000 feet. The areas of the greatest depth of snow, together with altitude, determined the central points of subsequent glacial pressure flows. And the ice age persisted just as long as this excessive precipitation continued to cover these northern highlands with this enormous mantle of snow, which soon metamorphosed into solid but creeping ice.
61:5.3 (699.4) 这一时期的巨大冰川，都位于被抬升的高地上，而非在今日发现它们的那些多山地区。冰川的一半在北美洲，四分之一在欧亚大陆，另四分之一在其它地区，主要是在南极洲。非洲很少受到冰川的影响，但澳洲则几乎被南极冰层所覆盖。		61:5.3 (699.4) The great ice sheets of this period were all located on elevated highlands, not in mountainous regions where they are found today. One half of the glacial ice was in North America, one fourth in Eurasia, and one fourth elsewhere, chiefly in Antarctica. Africa was little affected by the ice, but Australia was almost covered with the antarctic ice blanket.
61:5.4 (699.5) 这个世界的北部地区经历过六次截然不同的冰川侵袭，尽管每一次单独的冰川活动，都伴随着许多次的进进退退。北美的冰川起先集中在两个中心，后来变成三个。格陵兰岛被覆盖了，而冰岛则完全被掩埋在冰流之下。在欧洲，冰层曾在不同时期覆盖过除英格兰南部海岸以外的不列颠诸岛，并向西欧扩展到法国。		61:5.4 (699.5) The northern regions of this world have experienced six separate and distinct ice invasions, although there were scores of advances and recessions associated with the activity of each individual ice sheet. The ice in North America collected in two and, later, three centers. Greenland was covered, and Iceland was completely buried beneath the ice flow. In Europe the ice at various times covered the British Isles excepting the coast of southern England, and it overspread western Europe down to France.
61:5.5 (699.6) 2,000,000（两百万）年前，北美的第一次冰川开始了其南向的推进。冰河时代此时正在形成当中，而这次冰川在其从北部气压中心推进及撤回的过程中，耗费了近一百万年时间。中部冰川往南远扩至堪萨斯州；东部和西部的冰川中心那时则没有扩展那么远。		61:5.5 (699.6) 2,000,000 years ago the first North American glacier started its southern advance. The ice age was now in the making, and this glacier consumed nearly one million years in its advance from, and retreat back toward, the northern pressure centers. The central ice sheet extended south as far as Kansas; the eastern and western ice centers were not then so extensive.
61:5.6 (699.7) 1,500,000（一百五十万）年前，第一次大冰川逐渐向北回撤。与此同时，格陵兰岛与北美洲的东北部连降大雪，而这一东部冰原不久便开始向南流动，这便是冰川的第二次侵袭。		61:5.6 (699.7) 1,500,000 years ago the first great glacier was retreating northward. In the meantime, enormous quantities of snow had been falling on Greenland and on the northeastern part of North America, and erelong this eastern ice mass began to flow southward. This was the second invasion of the ice.
61:5.7 (699.8) 最初的这两次冰川侵袭，在欧亚大陆并不广泛。在冰河时代的这些早期年代中，北美洲遍布乳齿象、猛犸象、马类、骆驼、鹿类、麝牛、野牛、大地懒、巨型海狸、剑齿虎、与象类一样大的树懒，以及猫科和狗科的许多类别。但自这时往后，因为冰川时期的日渐寒冷，它们在数量上迅速减少。到冰河时代结束时，这些动物种类的大多数都在北美洲灭绝了。		61:5.7 (699.8) These first two ice invasions were not extensive in Eurasia. During these early epochs of the ice age North America was overrun with mastodons, woolly mammoths, horses, camels, deer, musk oxen, bison, ground sloths, giant beavers, saber-toothed tigers, sloths as large as elephants, and many groups of the cat and dog families. But from this time forward they were rapidly reduced in numbers by the increasing cold of the glacial period. Toward the close of the ice age the majority of these animal species were extinct in North America.
61:5.8 (700.1) 这个世界远离冰川的水陆生命很少有所变化。在诸次冰川侵袭的中间，气候大约与现在这样温和，或许还要暖和一些。尽管冰川向外扩张会覆盖大片地区，但它们毕竟是局部现象。而在冰川间歇时期，以及在巨大冰山滑离缅因州海岸而进入大西洋、通过普吉特海湾而滑入太平洋、轰然落入挪威峡湾而进入北海的那些时期，沿海岸的气候则变化很大。		61:5.8 (700.1) Away from the ice the land and water life of the world was little changed. Between the ice invasions the climate was about as mild as at present, perhaps a little warmer. The glaciers were, after all, local phenomena, though they spread out to cover enormous areas. The coastwise climate varied greatly between the times of glacial inaction and those times when enormous icebergs were sliding off the coast of Maine into the Atlantic, slipping out through Puget Sound into the Pacific, and thundering down Norwegian fiords into the North Sea.
6. 冰河时代的原始人类 ^top		6. Primitive Man in the Ice Age ^top
61:6.1 (700.2) 这一冰川时期的伟大事件，便是原始人类的进化。就在印度的稍偏西部，在那片此时已处水下的土地上，在较古老北美狐猴类型的亚洲迁移者后裔中，发端类哺乳动物突然出现了。这些小型动物主要用其后腿行走，相较于其它动物的大脑来说，它们具有与其体型相称的大型大脑。在这类生命的第七十代当中，一种新的更高等类别的动物突然分化出来了。这些新的中间类哺乳动物 -- 其体型与高度几乎是其祖先的两倍，并具有相应扩增的脑力 -- 刚站稳脚跟，这时灵长类、即第三类关键性变种便突然出现了。（与此同时，中间类哺乳动物血统中一个退化发展产生了类人猿的祖先；从那时起直到如今，人类分支通过渐进性演化而前进了，而类人猿各群落则保持不变，或是实际上退化了。）		61:6.1 (700.2) The great event of this glacial period was the evolution of primitive man. Slightly to the west of India, on land now under water and among the offspring of Asiatic migrants of the older North American lemur types, the dawn mammals suddenly appeared. These small animals walked mostly on their hind legs, and they possessed large brains in proportion to their size and in comparison with the brains of other animals. In the seventieth generation of this order of life a new and higher group of animals suddenly differentiated. These new mid-mammals—almost twice the size and height of their ancestors and possessing proportionately increased brain power—had only well established themselves when the Primates, the third vital mutation, suddenly appeared. (At this same time, a retrograde development within the mid-mammal stock gave origin to the simian ancestry; and from that day to this the human branch has gone forward by progressive evolution, while the simian tribes have remained stationary or have actually retrogressed.)
61:6.2 (700.3) 1,000,000（一百万）年前，玉苒厦(Urantia)被登记为一个居住性世界。逐渐进步的灵长类血统中的一次变异突然产生出两个原始人类，亦即人类的真正祖先。		61:6.2 (700.3) 1,000,000 years ago Urantia was registered as an inhabited world. A mutation within the stock of the progressing Primates suddenly produced two primitive human beings, the actual ancestors of mankind.
61:6.3 (700.4) 这一事件大约发生在第三次冰川推进开始之时；由此便可看出，你们的早期先祖是在一种充满刺激、充满活力和充满艰辛的环境中得以诞生和孕育的。这些玉苒厦(Urantia)土著居民中的仅有幸存者爱斯基摩人，即使到现在依旧更喜欢居住在寒冷的北部地区。		61:6.3 (700.4) This event occurred at about the time of the beginning of the third glacial advance; thus it may be seen that your early ancestors were born and bred in a stimulating, invigorating, and difficult environment. And the sole survivors of these Urantia aborigines, the Eskimos, even now prefer to dwell in frigid northern climes.
61:6.4 (700.5) 直到冰河时代快要结束时，人类才出现在西半球。但在冰川间歇期间他们则向西进发，绕过地中海，不久便遍布了欧洲大陆。在西欧的诸多山洞里，可以找到与热带及北极动物遗迹混合在一起的人类骸骨，这证实了在后来冰川进进退退的整个时代里，人类曾在这些地区生活过。		61:6.4 (700.5) Human beings were not present in the Western Hemisphere until near the close of the ice age. But during the interglacial epochs they passed westward around the Mediterranean and soon overran the continent of Europe. In the caves of western Europe may be found human bones mingled with the remains of both tropic and arctic animals, testifying that man lived in these regions throughout the later epochs of the advancing and retreating glaciers.
7. 持续的冰河时代 ^top		7. The Continuing Ice Age ^top
61:7.1 (700.6) 遍及整个冰川时期，众多其它活动也在进行着，但冰川的活动令其它北纬地区的所有其他现象相形见绌。没有任何其它地质活动能够在地貌上留下如此典型的证据。可以发现的是，那些独特的巨砾和地表裂隙，诸如壶穴、湖泊、移位的巨石以及岩粉，与自然中的任何其他现象都无任何关联。那些徐缓的隆起，或是被称为冰丘的地表起伏，也要归因于冰川。而且冰川在推进时，会使河流改道并改变整个地貌。冰川过后会留下那些标志性的漂移物 -- 即底碛、侧碛、终碛等。这些漂移物，尤其是底碛，从北美洲的东海岸向北向西扩展，并在欧洲和西伯利亚也会被找到。		61:7.1 (700.6) Throughout the glacial period other activities were in progress, but the action of the ice overshadows all other phenomena in the northern latitudes. No other terrestrial activity leaves such characteristic evidence on the topography. The distinctive boulders and surface cleavages, such as potholes, lakes, displaced stone, and rock flour, are to be found in connection with no other phenomenon in nature. The ice is also responsible for those gentle swells, or surface undulations, known as drumlins. And a glacier, as it advances, displaces rivers and changes the whole face of the earth. Glaciers alone leave behind them those telltale drifts—the ground, lateral, and terminal moraines. These drifts, particularly the ground moraines, extend from the eastern seaboard north and westward in North America and are found in Europe and Siberia.
61:7.2 (701.1) 750,000（七十五万）年前，由北美中部和东部冰原联合起来的第四次冰川汹涌向南袭来；在其最盛期它曾到达过伊利诺斯州南部，将密西西比河向西移置了八十公里，在东部，它向南远扩至俄亥俄河以及宾夕凡尼亚州中部。		61:7.2 (701.1) 750,000 years ago the fourth ice sheet, a union of the North American central and eastern ice fields, was well on its way south; at its height it reached to southern Illinois, displacing the Mississippi River fifty miles to the west, and in the east it extended as far south as the Ohio River and central Pennsylvania.
61:7.3 (701.2) 在亚洲，西伯利亚冰川做出了最南向的侵袭，而在欧洲，推进的冰川就在阿尔卑斯山脉屏障不远处停下了。		61:7.3 (701.2) In Asia the Siberian ice sheet made its southernmost invasion, while in Europe the advancing ice stopped just short of the mountain barrier of the Alps.
61:7.4 (701.3) 500,000（五十万）年前，在第五次冰川推进期间，一个新的发展加快了人类进化的进程。六个有色种族突然在同一世代中从原始人类的血统中变异出来了。这是一个具有双重意义的日子，因为它也标志着行星君王的到来。		61:7.4 (701.3) 500,000 years ago, during the fifth advance of the ice, a new development accelerated the course of human evolution. Suddenly and in one generation the six colored races mutated from the aboriginal human stock. This is a doubly important date since it also marks the arrival of the Planetary Prince.
61:7.5 (701.4) 在北美洲，第五次推进的冰川由所有三个冰川中心的联合侵袭组成。然而，东部这叶仅在圣劳伦斯河谷以下延伸了一小段距离，西部冰川则很少往南推进过。但中部这叶则南下覆盖了爱荷华州的大部分。在欧洲，冰川的这次侵袭没有像上次那样广泛。		61:7.5 (701.4) In North America the advancing fifth glacier consisted of a combined invasion by all three ice centers. The eastern lobe, however, extended only a short distance below the St. Lawrence valley, and the western ice sheet made little southern advance. But the central lobe reached south to cover most of the state of Iowa. In Europe this invasion of the ice was not so extensive as the preceding one.
61:7.6 (701.5) 250,000（二十五万）年前，第六次也就是最后一次冰川作用开始了。虽然北部各个高地事实上已开始轻微下沉，但这却是北部冰原发生最大雪积的时期。		61:7.6 (701.5) 250,000 years ago the sixth and last glaciation began. And despite the fact that the northern highlands had begun to sink slightly, this was the period of greatest snow deposition on the northern ice fields.
61:7.7 (701.6) 在这次侵袭中，三个巨大的冰川合并成一个庞大的冰体，所有西部山脉都被卷入了这次冰川活动。这是北美洲所有冰川侵袭中最大的一次；冰川从其气压中心南移超过了两千四百公里，北美洲经历了其最低的温度。		61:7.7 (701.6) In this invasion the three great ice sheets coalesced into one vast ice mass, and all of the western mountains participated in this glacial activity. This was the largest of all ice invasions in North America; the ice moved south over fifteen hundred miles from its pressure centers, and North America experienced its lowest temperatures.
61:7.8 (701.7) 200,000（二十万）年前，就在最后一次冰川推进期间，发生了与玉苒厦(Urantia)上诸事进程关系重大的一幕 -- 路西法反叛。		61:7.8 (701.7) 200,000 years ago, during the advance of the last glacier, there occurred an episode which had much to do with the march of events on Urantia—the Lucifer rebellion.
61:7.9 (701.8) 150,000（十五万）年前，第六次也就是最后一次冰川，到达了其南向扩展的最远点，西部冰川刚刚越过加拿大地界；中部冰川往下达至堪萨斯州、密苏里州和伊利诺斯州；东部冰川向南推进，并覆盖了宾夕凡尼亚州与俄亥俄州的大部分地区。		61:7.9 (701.8) 150,000 years ago the sixth and last glacier reached its farthest points of southern extension, the western ice sheet crossing just over the Canadian border; the central coming down into Kansas, Missouri, and Illinois; the eastern sheet advancing south and covering the greater portion of Pennsylvania and Ohio.
61:7.10 (701.9) 正是这次冰川发送出了许多冰舌或是说冰叶，它们雕琢出了现今大大小小的湖泊。在其撤退期间，北美五大湖系得以形成了。玉苒厦的(Urantian)地理学家们已十分精确地推断出这一发展过程的不同阶段，并正确推测出这些水体的确在不同时期最先流入密西西比河谷，然后向东注入哈得逊河谷，最终又沿一北向路线注入圣劳伦斯河。自从相互连通的五大湖系开始注入到当今的尼亚加拉河道以来，已有历三万七千年之久了。		61:7.10 (701.9) This is the glacier that sent forth the many tongues, or ice lobes, which carved out the present-day lakes, great and small. During its retreat the North American system of Great Lakes was produced. And Urantian geologists have very accurately deduced the various stages of this development and have correctly surmised that these bodies of water did, at different times, empty first into the Mississippi valley, then eastward into the Hudson valley, and finally by a northern route into the St. Lawrence. It is thirty-seven thousand years since the connected Great Lakes system began to empty out over the present Niagara route.
61:7.11 (702.1) 100,000（十万）年前，在最后一次冰川回撤期间，巨大的极地冰层开始形成，冰川累积中心大幅北移了。只要极地地区持续被冰川所覆盖，无论将来是陆地抬升还是洋流改变，都不大可能有另一个冰川时代出现了。		61:7.11 (702.1) 100,000 years ago, during the retreat of the last glacier, the vast polar ice sheets began to form, and the center of ice accumulation moved considerably northward. And as long as the polar regions continue to be covered with ice, it is hardly possible for another glacial age to occur, regardless of future land elevations or modification of ocean currents.
61:7.12 (702.2) 这最后一次冰川推进了十万年，它需要一段相似的时间来完成其北撤。温带地区已没有冰川五万多年了。		61:7.12 (702.2) This last glacier was one hundred thousand years advancing, and it required a like span of time to complete its northern retreat. The temperate regions have been free from the ice for a little over fifty thousand years.
61:7.13 (702.3) 严寒的冰川时期摧毁了许多物种，并激烈改变了众多其它物种。许多物种也因冰川的进退不得不来回迁徙，而受到了严酷的筛选。那些随冰川在陆上往返的动物有熊类、野牛、驯鹿、麝牛、猛犸象和乳齿象等。		61:7.13 (702.3) The rigorous glacial period destroyed many species and radically changed numerous others. Many were sorely sifted by the to-and-fro migration which was made necessary by the advancing and retreating ice. Those animals which followed the glaciers back and forth over the land were the bear, bison, reindeer, musk ox, mammoth, and mastodon.
61:7.14 (702.4) 猛犸象喜爱开阔的草原，而乳齿象则更喜欢森林地区的受掩蔽边缘。猛犸象直到后来仍逡巡在墨西哥到加拿大之间；其西伯利亚变种则被毛发所覆盖。乳齿象一直居住在北美洲，直到它们最终被红种人所完全消灭，一如白种人后来灭绝野牛的情形。		61:7.14 (702.4) The mammoth sought the open prairies, but the mastodon preferred the sheltered fringes of the forest regions. The mammoth, until a late date, ranged from Mexico to Canada; the Siberian variety became wool covered. The mastodon persisted in North America until exterminated by the red man much as the white man later killed off the bison.
61:7.15 (702.5) 在北美洲，在最后一次冰川作用期间，马类、貘类、美洲驼和剑齿虎灭绝了，取而代之的是从南美迁来的树懒、犰狳和水豚。		61:7.15 (702.5) In North America, during the last glaciation, the horse, tapir, llama, and saber-toothed tiger became extinct. In their places sloths, armadillos, and water hogs came up from South America.
61:7.16 (702.6) 生命在冰川推进之前的被迫迁徙，导致了各种植物和动物的非凡混合。随着最后一次冰川侵袭的撤退，许多北极的动植物物种被困在了某些山脉顶峰的高处，它们来到这些地方以逃避冰川所带来的毁灭。因此，今日这些离位的动植物可在欧洲的阿尔卑斯山高处、甚至可在北美的阿巴拉契亚山脉上得以找到。		61:7.16 (702.6) The enforced migration of life before the advancing ice led to an extraordinary commingling of plants and of animals, and with the retreat of the final ice invasion, many arctic species of both plants and animals were left stranded high upon certain mountain peaks, whither they had journeyed to escape destruction by the glacier. And so, today, these dislocated plants and animals may be found high up on the Alps of Europe and even on the Appalachian Mountains of North America.
61:7.17 (702.7) 冰河时代是最后一个完成的地质时期，即所谓的更新世，历时超过两百万年。		61:7.17 (702.7) The ice age is the last completed geologic period, the so-called Pleistocene, over two million years in length.
61:7.18 (702.8) 35,000（三万五千）年前，标志着除了该星球极地以外大冰河时代的终结。这一时期还很意义重大，因为它接近于一对物质性子女的到来，以及亚当天命时代的开始，其时与全新世或是后冰川时期的开始大体相当。		61:7.18 (702.8) 35,000 years ago marks the termination of the great ice age excepting in the polar regions of the planet. This date is also significant in that it approximates the arrival of a Material Son and Daughter and the beginning of the Adamic dispensation, roughly corresponding to the beginning of the Holocene or postglacial period.
61:7.19 (702.9) 该篇叙述，从哺乳动物的出现到冰川的回撤，再往下延续到有历史记载的时期，涵盖了一段几近五千万年的时间。这是最后一个 -- 亦即当前的 -- 地质时期，并被你们的研究者们称为新生代或是古近与新近纪。		61:7.19 (702.9) This narrative, extending from the rise of mammalian life to the retreat of the ice and on down to historic times, covers a span of almost fifty million years. This is the last—the current—geologic period and is known to your researchers as the Cenozoic or recent-times era.
61:7.20 (702.10) [由一位常驻的生命载运者所提供。]		61:7.20 (702.10) [Sponsored by a Resident Life Carrier.]